London Fog | school hiatus

Ch. 10

His face lit up. “You’ll go?”

            “Of course,” I responded, caught off guard by his confusion. “I love camping. I live to camp. Why wouldn’t I love to camp?” It was the truth, even though I hadn’t actually gone camping in close to nine years.

            He shrugged. “You just seem like someone who hates the outdoors, is all.”

            This was surely a dig at my skin. I could never tan, so I didn’t try usually, normally staying inside on my electronics, huddled in blankets. “I hate being sunburned,” I clarify. “And bugs.”

            He let out a quiet chuckle. “Okay then, uh, you can pack for hiking and stuff, make sure you pack swimwear, and in about two weeks we’ll go.”

            “Okay,” I smiled. I ran back up the stairs, leaping into my bedroom. I rummaged through the small closet, pulling my trusty backpack out of the depths. It was a deep green, made of corduroy. The straps were leather, faded and soft to the touch. My dad had bought it for me at the ripe age of fifteen, sort of bribing me to come camping with him. I had two weeks to wait, but the excitement was too much to bear without doing anything.

            I stuffed a couple of tank tops in there with several pairs of shorts and a jean jacket. I remembered how cold it can get and packed sweatpants as well, along with the bottle of SPF 45 I always keep handy.

            “Need any help packing?” Jen’s voice rang from my doorway, scaring me. I jumped, spinning around.

            “Oh,” I sighed. “You scared me. Yeah, I’ll take some help.”

            She nodded, walking toward the place on my bed where I had laid out all the essentials that needed to be packed. “Uh, I wanted to talk,” she started. Uh-oh.

            “Sure, about what?” I really hope she isn’t angry at me. I hate when people are angry at me.

            “I think you might need to sit down,” she said in a low voice, gesturing to the bed. She sat, too, patting the place next to her. I sat down, unsure of what was going on. She cleared her throat. “I just want to make sure you don’t get hurt. My brother...” she trailed, gazing into the distance. I raised my eyebrow, trying to make eye contact with her. She snapped back into reality continuing. “Um, sort of uses girls. And I care about you, plus you’re my roommate, so if he broke your heart, I’d have to hear about it,” she finished, half-jokingly.

            “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” I stated, trying to give her a reassuring smile. Then, seeing the concern still on her face, “You really think I’d let anyone control me? Thank you, though.”

            She smiled half-heartedly, standing. “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered. “Promise to tell me if he does anything stupid,” she pleaded.

            I was not used to dealing with delicate people. Following my instinct, I got up and hugged her. “I really will be okay,” I assured her. “If he tries anything, I’ll put him in his place. And if I can’t, I will tell you. I promise.”

            ***

Two weeks flew by, the fastest and slowest time lapse in the existence of time. There was a really light knock on my door. When I opened it, I revealed Jay, who promptly swept past me and sat down on my bed, making the mattress dip.

 “I checked the forecast and it looks like we’re all set,” he told me proudly.

            “Good, wouldn’t want to get caught up in a tornado,” I joked. He didn’t laugh, so I tried explaining my joke. Like an idiot. “Get it? Because England doesn’t get tornadoes?”